Sank is the past tense (e.g., the ship sank to the bottom of the sea). Sunk is the past participle, so it's used in the perfect tenses (e.g., the ship has sunk to the bottom of the sea) and as an adjective (the sunk ship is at the bottom of the sea). ... Read more
Depository vs. repository
In its oldest English sense, dating from the 15th century,1 a repository is a place where things are stored, usually for safe keeping. Depository, which entered English a couple of centuries later,2 bears the same meaning (though, considered etymologically, a depository is a place where things are ... Read more
Snake oil, snake-oil salesman
In modern figurative use, snake oil refers to a fraudulent remedy, especially one promoted and sold by a quack. The quacks who push such products are snake-oil salesmen. Origins and history Around the late 19th century, the American cultural imagination created the figure of the traveling salesman ... Read more
Discomfit vs. discomfort
To discomfit is (1) to throw into confusion, perplex, or embarrass; or (2) to thwart or defeat, especially in military conflict. The second sense is the original---and a handful of people insist that it is still the only correct use---but the first is more common today and is rarely questioned. The ... Read more
Incentivize, incent
To incentivize (or incentivise outside North America) is to motivate using the expectation of a reward. A late-20th-century coinage, the word was originally voguish business jargon, but it has caught on more broadly in this century. Many people object to it, not just because it's new but also ... Read more
Je ne sais quoi
Je ne sais quoi is French for "I know not what." In English, we use it to refer to an intangible, distinctive quality, especially of a person, that can't be put in words---e.g., "I don't know what makes him so charming. He just has a certain je ne sais quoi." The phrase is often italicized and ... Read more
Grateful vs. gratified
Grateful means thankful. Gratified means satisfied or pleased---or, often, pleased to receive something one has worked for or long desired. Gratification doesn't necessarily involve gratitude; for instance, one might be gratified to see positive effects of one's hard work, or a victim of crime ... Read more
Tolerance vs. toleration
Tolerance is a broadly defined noun with applications in science, medicine, and mechanics, in addition to its common use referring to one's acceptance of others' rights, beliefs, and practices. Toleration is mainly a less common variant of tolerance, though there are qualifications to this that ... Read more
Many vs. much
Many modifies things that can be counted (i.e., count nouns). Much modifies things that can't be counted (i.e., mass nouns). In other words, many tends to modify plural nouns, and much tends to modify singular nouns. For example, we write many doctors, many stars, and many dollars because these ... Read more
Blue collar, white collar
The term blue-collar describes working-class people, especially those who work in manufacturing, construction, and other fields involving manual labor and hourly wages. It also describes things having to do with working-class people, such as the areas where they live and their shared concerns, and ... Read more
